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Flipboard becomes a federated app with support for ActivityPub | TechCrunch
Instagram Threads isn't the only app joining the decentralized social web, which includes Twitter/X rival Mastodon and other apps, with its newly added
techcrunch.com
Flipboard becomes a federated app with support for ActivityPub
Sarah Perez@sarahpereztc / 11:00 AM EST•December 18, 2023
Image Credits: Flipboard
Instagram Threads isn’t the only app joining the decentralized social web, which includes Twitter/X rival Mastodon and other apps, with its newly added support for the networking protocol ActivityPub. Today, the social magazine app Flipboard is announcing it has also now integrated with ActityPub. In its initial phase, select Flipboard accounts will be discoverable and can be followed by the millions of users of decentralized social apps, including Mastodon. Over time, all profiles on Flipboard will be available in the fediverse, as this network of decentralized social apps is known.
The company announced its intention earlier this year to participate in the fediverse. It began by integrating its app with Mastodon via an API and setting up its own Mastodon server, flipboard.social, ahead of full ActivityPub integration. This allowed Flipboard to get a feel for the world of decentralized social media, and learn how its users would respond. It also gave Flipboard a way to stay connected to social media after Twitter/X increased its API fees for third-party developers, making it unsustainable for many developers to continue to work with the company.
The Flipboard app’s primary purpose has been to curate news and information found on the web into social “magazines,” including links to articles, photos, and other social posts. As a result, it had relied on Twitter as one of its sources of information. That changed this year, when Flipboard shifted its Twitter integration over to Mastodon and another alternative social app, Bluesky. It also set up its own Mastodon server and began curating news across the fediverse via editorial “desks” focused on improving the discovery of news on Mastodon.
All this was in the lead-up to making Flipboard itself a federated social app, a process that’s kicking off today.
Initially, Flipboard is testing the integration with select accounts, including publishers like Semafor, Pitchfork, Fast Company, Medium, LGBTQ Nation, Refinery 29, Digiday, Polygon, SPIN, Kotaku, Frommer’s, The Verge, Smithsonian Magazine, Refinery 29, The Root, ScienceAlert, AFAR Media, and others. While many are focused on news, there are also some non-profits like The News Literacy Project and education-focused news site The 74, in this debut list.
Image Credits: Flipboard
“As we said in the earlier part of this year, we will be embracing ActivityPub into Flipboard and effectively reworking our whole backend to that,” explained Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, in a conversation with TechCrunch about the coming changes. He says the company had first integrated with Mastodon at the API level, so users could log into their Mastodon accounts, see those posts, and interact with others in the fediverse from Flipboard. “But you had to have an account on all those platforms,” McCue noted.
“What we’re announcing on Monday is basically our roadmap for how we will be rolling out ActivityPub, and effectively tearing down the walls around our own walled garden,” he added.
With the changes, when Flipboard users curate an article or post into one of their social magazines on Flipboard’s app, with an optional comment, that “flip,” as it’s called, will also appear as a post on their new flipboard.com Mastodon account. This is not the same server as Flipboard had set up before (flipboard.social), which was a place to experiment with decentralized social media. Instead, it’s the Flipboard app itself that’s now connected to the fediverse. Users’ posts on Mastodon will include a link both to the article being flipped and to the user’s Flipboard magazine, while the user profile will point to their Flipboard profile page.
Image Credits: Flipboard
As this rolls out, all Flipboard users will have one Flipboard.com account connected to the fediverse, even if they host numerous Flipboard magazines. That’s not ideal as their magazines may focus on different topics. But McCue believes that Mastodon could one day support a notion of sub-feeds that would allow more differentiation.
Users will be able to opt out of having their “flips” posted on Mastodon, but being opted-in will be the default experience. The company expects to have all its user accounts connected to the fediverse by the end of January. (This won’t impact any magazines set to “private” on Flipboard. Those will remain private, McCue notes).
Today, Flipboard has over 10,000 publishers of social magazines on its app and over a quarter million individuals who are curating content using Flipboard’s app. Given that Mastodon today has around 1.5 million monthly active users, this could be a notable bump for the fediverse when Flipboard’s integration fully rolls out, assuming Flipboard’s users don’t opt out.
Flipboard is only one of now several companies that has embraced decentralized social media. In addition to X rival Instagram Threads, which began testing ActivityPub last week, other tech companies are moving in this direction, as well. Automattic made it possible for all WordPress.org and WordPress.com blogs to become federated, and said it’s working on doing the same with Tumblr next year. Medium and Mozilla have also set up their own servers, and the latter backed a Mastodon client called Mammoth, too.
For Flipboard, after integrating its backend with the fediverse, the company may reconsider what its front end should look like, too, for this new age of social media.
“The front end was built at a time pre-federation,” noted McCue. “What are the implications of federation in the front end? How do we think about curation and all the things all the capabilities and tools that we’ve created over the years? How does that work in a world that’s federated, and from a user experience point of view? That is a great question,” he said.
Despite all the changes, Flipboard is not in need of raising funds to support its new developments. It’s running off the profits of its own business as it moves in this direction.
The company is also betting on the fact that federated social media may only be the beginning of what’s to come for the web overall.
“I saw what was happening with ActivityPub and it became very clear to me that this is the future of the web, period,” McCue said. “The social web is people linking to pages and people linking to people. So it’s a much more intricate web.”
He sees Flipboard as a part of that opportunity. “There needs to be a way to do discovery and search and have it be beautiful and simple and easy to use. That is what we’re focused on,” McCue added.
Slim
Superstar
makes sense
ever since twitter restricted the search function to signed in users only, the only way to search twitter was through a search engine or a nitter instance. i've searched for twitter posts via google many times too since I don't have a twitter account. people refusing to signup adapted
T’Challa’s Heir
Superstar
makes sense
Also, who searches for Instagram stuff on Google?
No one, but I bet Instagram pays Google to have their App be mentioned in a Celebrities Social.
And if it pops up, it scores as a 'Hit'.
Tesla drivers had highest accident rate, BMW drivers most DUIs study finds
Tesla drivers had 24 accidents per 1,000 drivers during the period from mid-November 2022 to mid-November 2023, according to a study by Lending Tree.
www.cnbc.com
Also for references:
If you drive an expensive car you may be a jerk, scientists say
The science is looking pretty unanimous on this one: Drivers of expensive cars are the worst.
amp.cnn.com
Twitter was barely profitable before genius Must saddled it with a billion dollar a year interest payment and ran off major advertisers. Surely you must be joking.
Just because you've finally found a space where everyone treats your libertarianism and climate change denialism as if they're intelligent positions doesn't mean the app is successful.
On what planet does a successful business lose half of its paying customer base in one year?
Twitter loses nearly half advertising revenue since Elon Musk takeover
Elon Musk confirms the firm has a heavy debt load and income in June was not what had been expected.
www.bbc.com
And that was back in July, before he started with the anti-semitic stuff that lost him half of what he had left.
Twitter was barely profitable before genius Must saddled it with a billion dollar a year interest payment and ran off major advertisers. Surely you must be joking.
1. Heavily in debt
2. Lost most of its paying advertizers
3. Killed the brand and made it toxic
4. Changed the name to shyt even its own fanboys won't use
5. Loses functionality constantly
6. Lost users
"According to research firm Similarweb, global web traffic to Twitter.com was down 14%, year-over-year, and traffic to the ads.twitter.com portal for advertisers was down 16.5%. Performance on mobile was no better, down 17.8% year-over-year based on combined monthly active users for Apple's iOS and Android."
It's been one year since Elon Musk bought Twitter. Now called X, the service has lost advertisers and users.
Musk walked into Twitter's offices a year ago carrying a bathroom sink. Since then, he's given it a new name and purpose.
www.cbsnews.com
"Since Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, it’s lost approximately 13 percent of its app’s daily active users, according to new data from mobile research firm Apptopia (that I was first to report last week on Big Technology), and its rebrand as X only accelerated the decline. "
The Elon Effect Is Real: Twitter Users Are Fleeing
A confusing experience and a new name are just two more reasons to stay away from X.
LV Koopa
Jester from Hell
Twitter was barely profitable before genius Must saddled it with a billion dollar a year interest payment and ran off major advertisers. Surely you must be joking.
They did $3 billion in revenue this year and are finally approaching cash flow positive. Advertisers make a stink but come back to the platform. Especially in light of finding out Media Matters was lying about the platform and strong-arming companies to stop advertising.
From a company making no profit with heavy censorship and a thieving corporate board to a free hallmark. Dude was right and knew what he was doing. All you clowns that were shilling Mastodon (
) and the Threads app were dead wrong and had no clue how that space works. If Elon wants to pay over a billion a year then let him - he got over 200 of them to burn.1. Heavily in debt
2. Lost most of its paying advertizers
3. Killed the brand and made it toxic
4. Changed the name to shyt even its own fanboys won't use
5. Loses functionality constantly
6. Lost users
"According to research firm Similarweb, global web traffic to Twitter.com was down 14%, year-over-year, and traffic to the ads.twitter.com portal for advertisers was down 16.5%. Performance on mobile was no better, down 17.8% year-over-year based on combined monthly active users for Apple's iOS and Android."
It's been one year since Elon Musk bought Twitter. Now called X, the service has lost advertisers and users.
Musk walked into Twitter's offices a year ago carrying a bathroom sink. Since then, he's given it a new name and purpose.
"Since Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, it’s lost approximately 13 percent of its app’s daily active users, according to new data from mobile research firm Apptopia (that I was first to report last week on Big Technology), and its rebrand as X only accelerated the decline. "
The Elon Effect Is Real: Twitter Users Are Fleeing
A confusing experience and a new name are just two more reasons to stay away from X.slate.com
Brand stronger than ever bro. Twitter is much better than it was 4 years ago without the silly censorship. We would never have found out what was going on in Palestine with the old regime as they would have censored everything to make Israel look like the good guys.
1.) Heavily in debt is irrelevant. A business can be in debt but if their revenues are accelerating and enterprise value is growing they will be fine.
2.) Advertisers are coming back. They can't resist, especially with Twitter Execs finally finding a way to monetize user content. They are a few steps away from becoming Twitch-lite. Spaces is taking off even better than it was when originally created. Content creation is king and advertisers can't step away from an easy buck.
3.) Straight up nonsense. It is one of the most heavily used apps in the world and Twitter's user base keeps growing.
4.) Ok?
5.) No it does not. The Twitter app was fine for the vast majority of users when Elon first got rid of the engineers. People complained because they did not like Elon but the core functionality of the mobile and web apps worked. The main things that broke were 3rd party apps ala Tweet Deck. Then people complained again when Elon locked the API. But the app itself was working. People just exaggerated claims, like in this very thread, because they have an agenda.
6.) And gained even more.
Sometimes y'all just gotta admit you lost. I've seen threads about Meta's Threads up, Mastodon, Truth Social, and all kinds of terrible apps that were supposed to kill Twitter on this very forum from the same few select posters over the past 3 years. And not a single one of you work in the industry, have any programming experience, or make any real money in your lives. Honestly - just find something productive to do with your time. This shyt is disgraceful. Years and years of drinking the kool-aid and you STILL don't understand the social media industry.
Down from $4.4 billion in 2022 and over $4.5 billion in 2021 lol.
There's zero evidence for that other than Elon repeating it every-other month, hoping one day it will be true.
No, lol.
With Concerns About Brand Safety, More Advertisers Have Left X
As controversy continues to swirl about brand safety on X and comments from owner Elon Musk, marketers have been pulling their ads resulting in a loss in revenue.
www.forbes.com
No he doesn't, he's one of the most cash-poor billionaires out there. His net worth is almost entirely tied up in Tesla stock, which drops every time he sells.
Based on what?
You're delusional as fukk.
But their revenues cratered.
No they didn't, that's TOTAL daily users that have shrunk.
"Under his stewardship, X’s daily user base has declined from an estimated 140 million app users to 121 million, Apptopia says, with a widening gap between people who check it daily versus monthly."
You think the same users were promoting Threads, Mastodon, and Truth Social?
I haven't promoted any of those sites, so maybe drop the false claims and actually address Twitter's real problems, mm'kay?
Now we do see the benefit of owning a social media platform as the face of your brand. You can literally shape your own reality and the fanboys will believe it because you surround them entirely with only what you want them to hear.
Elon Musk’s X in political advertising push to offset revenue falls
Plans for new political ads team to hit $100mn in sales ahead of US presidential election are met with industry scepticism
www.ft.com
Elon Musk’s X in political advertising push to offset revenue falls
Plans for new political ads team to hit $100mn in sales ahead of US presidential election are met with industry scepticism
© FT montage/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Hannah Murphy in London
15 HOURS AGO
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A push by Elon Musk’s X to bring in $100mn from political advertising in 2024 is being met by scepticism from industry insiders, hitting its hopes of offsetting revenue losses caused by big brands leaving the platform.
Earlier this year, X’s billionaire owner reversed a ban on political advertising instituted by former chief executive Jack Dorsey, a move designed to align with Musk’s stance as a “free speech absolutist”.
It has since increased its investment in the space, including hosting a recent event with about 100 existing and prospective political clients in Washington to promote its advertising services.
The company subsequently sent a message to some attendees saying it is “building the modern global town square — a place for causes & candidates to meet their constituents — and we are doing this with brand safety and election integrity at the forefront”. The email, seen by the Financial Times, added that X had 92.4mn users in the US, 98 per cent of whom were of voting age.
Chief executive Linda Yaccarino has told industry figures she was aiming for the platform to bring in $100mn annually in political ad revenues in a big election year, according to two people familiar with the projections.
X has set up a team of about 10 people that has held around 400 meetings and calls with digital marketers, strategists, campaigns and political action groups, according to those familiar with the operation.
X’s new political advertising sales team is headed by New York-based Sten McGuire, who has previously worked in political sales for Hulu and Walt Disney. X has hired Yaccarino’s son Matthew Madrazo to manage Republican relationships. Media advertising veteran Jonathan Phelps has been tasked with soliciting business from Democratic groups. Semafor first reported the sales target and some of X’s recent hires.
The company is also advertising more positions for its “growing” political ads sales team ahead of the “upcoming 2024 election cycle”, according to online job postings.
While X did not confirm the financial targets, it did confirm the communication related to the event and said it had been working on improving its targeting.
“On X people can actively participate in vital discussions with elected officials, community leaders and fellow citizens,” said Joe Benarroch, X’s head of business operations. “That’s exactly why we’re constantly refining our policies and our products to ensure all communities have an open and secure platform for safe political discourse on X.”
The push has been met with scepticism by leading players in the US political advertising scene, particularly left-leaning groups.
During the 2018 midterm elections, X, then known as Twitter, brought in only about $3mn in political advertising. As of December 11, the company had made about $4.7mn from the start of 2023 from political ads, according to disclosure data that can be requested from the company.
One industry figure in US political marketing said that many in the sector believed X’s targets were too high as the team lacked experience in Washington and the ads offering was not effective enough.
The company had previously touted a political advertising revenue target of $200mn when pitching its plans but has since revised the figure, the person said. “Even $100mn is unattainable,” the person said. “The numbers are misinformed and off.”
Mike Nellis, chief executive of Democratic ad group Authentic, which has run more than a dozen campaigns on the platform, said that some of his clients were pulling back or refusing to spend on X.
“Our results on the site are weaker than they were in the first half of the year,” Nellis said. “We believe this is because Elon is driving moderates and progressives off the site. If our target audience isn’t reachable on X, there’s no reason to spend any more.”
According to X’s data from earlier this month, US Republican presidential nominees testing the platform have ranged from spending a few cents on an individual ad campaign to tens of thousands dollars.
The biggest spenders include Donald Trump’s campaign team, which has spent nearly $36,000 in total, and Ron DeSantis, who has spent more than $355,000.
Prominent Democratic politicians including Adam Schiff and Gavin Newsom have each spent close to $100,000 on X. However, President Joe Biden does not appear to have run any ads on the platform.
Last month, Musk told groups including Disney, IBM and Apple to “go fukk” themselves, after the companies pulled their ad spending following his endorsement of an antisemitic post and the publication of research claiming to find some ads on X next to pro-Nazi content.
In 2021, the year prior to Musk’s takeover, X booked about $5bn in revenues mainly from advertising. In July, Musk said ad revenues had dropped by 50 per cent, without giving precise details.
X has also outlined plans, first reported by the Financial Times, to focus on wooing small and medium-sized businesses to prop up its flailing ads business, alongside the political ads push.
Dorsey banned political advertising in 2019 over fears that misinformation was rife in the space. Musk’s decision to overturn the ban in August comes as he has worked with right-wing political figures, for example giving a platform to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson to host his show, and helping DeSantis launch his presidential bid via its Spaces audio feature.
Political marketers say that X lends itself more to soliciting donations, collecting email addresses and efforts to boost voter turnout, rather than shifting opinions, as users of the platform tend to be entrenched in their political beliefs.
“Political campaigns will leverage it, particularly for fundraising and ‘get out the votes’,” said Grace Briscoe, senior vice-president of client development for Basis Technologies, but added that levels of interest from her clients were low.
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X Corp
X ramps up new advertising strategy following Elon Musk’s tirade
Several political advertisers observed that the reach and performance of the services offered by Google-owned YouTube as well as Meta is superior to that of X.
Between October 12 and November 5, 79 per cent and 72 per cent of voters used YouTube and Facebook, respectively, while only 29 per cent used X, according to findings by Priorities USA, a progressive political action committee.
However, the head of one right-leaning outfit said that the platform was becoming a more attractive place for Republicans, as the user base shifts towards their side of the political spectrum.
Courtney Weaver, executive vice-president at Washington digital marketer IMGE, said that her company was pitching X to all clients looking to fundraise, adding that the platform had advantages such as the ability for brands to target “lookalike audiences”, which are similar to voters they may already have data for.
Democrats, however, are pulling away. “Many of the Democratic agencies are sensitive to the comments that [Musk has] made that have degraded their candidates,” another industry insider said. “I think there is a genuine hesitation to jump back in again because many of them don’t trust the leadership.”